AVG LinkScanner

There are millions of poisoned web pages out there. Let AVG LinkScanner check them out first. AVG LinkScanner looks for threats on every link you click in real time, before you get there. If a link is dangerous, youâ€™ll be protected. And it runs alongside other security software. So click on. What have you got to lose?

Why AVG LinkScannerÂ®

There are millions of poisoned web pages out there. They can live on familiar, big-name sites â€“ and they can come and go within hours. Just clicking on one can get you into trouble. You can end up losing your money, your identity and your most precious digital memories.

AVG LinkScanner checks each web page in real-time before it opens on your PC. If it sees trouble ahead, it stops you. Itâ€™s quick and easy to install, runs smoothly alongside other major brands of security software and itâ€™s free, forever.

AVG LinkScanner has a two-fold approach to your safety online:

Search-Shield scans search results and places a safety rating next to each link, so you know where itâ€™s safe to click.

Active Surf-Shield scans the page behind any link you click on or any web address you type into your browser. If the page is poisoned, it stops you from opening it. (This happens so quickly that you shouldnâ€™t even notice it.)

The fact that AVG LinkScanner works in real-time makes it unique. The software doesnâ€™t rely on “blacklists” of sites that have previously been poisoned, but instead checks for active threats right before you arrive at a page.

The Threat Landscape

If you still haven’t downloaded AVG LinkScanner, weâ€™d hate to worry you, but ignorance is not bliss in the current online environment:

95% of online threats are web-based and cannot be stopped with anti-virus software alone.
AVG sees 100,000-150,000 threats a day.
Online criminals set up their own websites or poison legitimate ones (even just single web pages).
60% of all pages hosting web threats are poisoned for less than a day, making the threats difficult to catch unless they are viewed on the actual page in real-time. This makes AVG LinkScanner essential protection.
One in eight web users will unknowingly come across a poisoned page at least once a month.
Online criminals are getting smarter. But weâ€™re always ahead of them. Our real-time AVG LinkScanner software detects threats at the only time it mattersâ€”before you arrive. And the software is free, so why not just download it?

Reviews

AVG has resurrected LinkScanner as a free plug-in for Firefox and Internet Explorer. AVG Anti-Virus fans shouldn’t fret, though; LinkScanner is still included in the AV suite. The new LinkScanner works much the same as the original one did. AVG’s “Search Shield” returns search results from both Google and Yahoo with flags next to them. Green flags on Google indicate a result is safe to click through to, while Yahoo-safe results display no flags. This might have been a configuration error, although rebooting the browser didn’t change the results. Links that are unsafe on both search engines will return red flags.

Hovering over a flag provides further details. Green flags show the IP address, the amount of time the scan took, and the date and time of the most recent scan. Red flags highlight the same information, as well as the risk category and the site name. Attempting to click through to a red-flagged page will take you to a warning screen that repeats most of the red-flag information–AVG calls this the “Active Surf-Shield.” A small link at the bottom of the red-blocked screen will let you click through, although it cautions users that it will continue to block potentially harmful content.

LinkScanner also offers two “slow down” warnings. The first is yellow with one exclamation point in it, while the second is orange and has two exclamation points. A link at the bottom of the pop-up takes you to the AVG product comparison page. It’s notable that LinkScanner didn’t slow down search results or click-through page loading times in any perceptible way, and that the new independent version functions just as well as the old independent version.